Practical implementation of social policies in promoting human rights, social justice and international integration in Vietnam
chievements in implementation of social policies for guaranteeing human rights

Firstly, the institutions on social policies in human rights guarantee and protection have been constantly improved with the timely formulation of a complete and feasible system of laws and policies on social security. Legislatively, the promulgation of the 2013 Constitution and various codes and laws such as the Civil Code, Labor Code, and the laws concerning social insurance, health insurance, children, people with disabilities, the elderly, education, legal aid, and employment, etc., is of important significance, creating a solid legal basis for concretization of social security rights, heightening the efficiency of human rights guarantee and promoting socio-economic development toward sustainability. In fund establishment activities, focus has been placed on assurance of social security for the people and provision of prompt and efficient support for persons in plights, thereby consistently implementing the Party’s and the State’s policy of “nobody is left behind”. The specific policies on social protection, multi-dimensional poverty reduction, sustainable and inclusive development, support for ethnic minority people, people with disabilities and children in special circumstances, etc., have contributed to raising welfare for social policy beneficiaries, satisfying their basic demands, helping prevent and reduce risks, and bringing about substantive equality for vulnerable groups so as to help them make contributions to national socio-economic development.

Especially in the period of COVID-19 pandemic, the Government issued unprecedented policies to implement social policies.[2] These were important policies that provide timely support for the people to overcome difficulties in the pandemic with welfare packages worth tens of trillions Vietnam dong, helping guarantee the fundamental human rights while heightening the operational capacity of the social security system to efficiently respond to global challenges and providing necessary guarantees for sustainable development with medium- and long-term visions.

Secondly, the social security system has been developed into a social security network, constantly expanding its coverage and increasingly satisfying the demand of eligible beneficiaries. This is clearly reflected through positive developments in the following aspects:

The social insurance system has been designed, organized and operating in a synchronous and uniform manner from central to local levels, serving as the “lifebuoys” for the people facing unexpected risks (ailments, disasters, epidemics, job loss due to occupational accidents, etc.), helping stabilize their income, livelihood and life.

The employment support system has played its role in creating diverse jobs, meeting the demand of majority of the workforce; providing vocational training and improvement of quality of human resources; connecting unemployed persons with enterprises; raising income of workers and guaranteeing the people’s right to employment, thereby contributing to efficient poverty reduction.

The social assistance system has helped the people overcome risks and incidents through providing aid in cash or in kind with state budget funds.

The system of incentive policies for people with meritorious services to the revolution and vulnerable and disadvantaged persons has brought about considerable benefits for these persons, contributing to achievement of social justice nationwide.

The system enabling access to basic social services (education, healthcare, housing, information, clean water, etc.) has seen improvements in quality and service scale, satisfying the essential needs of vast majority of people, especially those in deep-lying, remote, mountainous, island and extreme difficulty-stricken areas.

Thirdly, the life of vast majority of people has been constantly improved in economic, cultural and social aspects, helping promote national socio-economic development and raise Vietnam’s prestige and position on the international arena. These can be seen through continuous improvement of important indexes such as human development index (HDI), gender equality index (GEI), life expectancy, per-capita income, etc. These show Vietnam’s important achievements in the context that these indexes in many countries in the world tend to stop or even reverse due to economic difficulties, political instability and untraditional security challenges. Vietnam is also among the nations that have early accomplished the United Nations (UN) Millennium Development Goals, constituting a prerequisite for the country to achieve the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Social insurance is regarded as the “spine” of the social security system and exerts great impacts on this system and also on the entire society. Over the recent years, Vietnam’s social insurance system has seen vigorous developments through reform of administrative procedures and application of information technology, aiming to bring greater convenience and reduce time and cost for the insured.
On May 23, 2018, the Party Central Committee (the 12th National Congress) issued Resolution 28 on reform of social insurance policies with many novel provisions. It sets the targets that 35 percent, 45 percent and 60 percent of the labor pool in working age will be covered by social insurance by 2021, 2025 and 2030, respectively. To attain these targets, the law on social insurance should early be revised to meet the following requirements:

Firstly, a multi-layer social insurance system should be built to consist of three layers. Layer 1, with the State assuming the key responsibility, includes retirement allowances for the elderly without monthly pension or social insurance allowance and facing difficulties in their lives. Layer 2, with the joint participation of the State, employers and employees, is basic social insurance composed of compulsory social insurance and voluntary social insurance to be gradually shifted to compulsory social insurance and finally universal social insurance. Layer 3, with the joint participation of employers and employees, is voluntary supplementary retirement insurance designed for higher-income earners.

Secondly, social insurance policies should be reformed in tandem with the the renewal and development of other social policies, especially regimes on salary, income, occupational safety and health, and social assistance, in order to ensure social security for all people.

Thirdly, the social insurance coverage should be broadened along with improving regulations on payment of social insurance premiums and enjoyment of social insurance benefits, adhering to the principles of fairness, equality, sharing and sustainable development.

Fourthly, to make social insurance an effective instrument of the State.